Book Review: "How To Know The Birds" by Ted Floyd

About How to Knowingness look one the Birds

• Hardcover: 304 pages • Publisher: National Geographic (March 12, 2019) Become a better birder with brief portraits of 200 top North American birds. This friendly, relatable book is a celebration of the art, science, and delights of bird-watching. How to Know the Birds introduces a new, holistic approach to bird-watching, by noting how behaviors, settings, and seasonal cycles connect with shape, song, color, gender, age distinctions, and other features traditionally used to identify species. With short essays on 200 observable species, expert author Ted Floyd guides us through a year of becoming a better birder, each species representing another useful lesson: from explaining scientific nomenclature to noting how plumage changes with age, from chronicling migration patterns to noting hatchling habits. Dozens of endearing pencil sketches accompany Floyd's charming prose, making this book a unique blend of narrative and field guide. A pleasure for birders of all ages, this witty book promises solid lessons for the beginner and smiles of recognition for the seasoned nature lover. Social Media Please use the hashtag #howtoknowthebirds and tag @tlcbooktours.

Purchase Links

National Geographic | Amazon | Barnes & Noble

People who read Pure Florida know that April Fools Day is often, not always, but often a major event here. There was that time I struck oil in the front yard, the meteor strike in the back yard, the skunk ape game cam video, the alien artifacts in the gun range ... you get the picture.

This year, no fooling, I have a book you might like for yourself or as a gift for your birding friends. "How To Know The Birds" is a series of essays on birds and birding by Ted Floyd.

I love birds, but I don't think of myself as a "birder". 

The competition and life list aspects of birding don't appeal to me, but I enjoyed many of the essays in the book, especially the Ruby-Throated Hummingbird story of how they prepare for their Gulf of Mexico crossing.

If you are a birder, or just want to know more about the birds around us, this book was written for you.

"A Heavenly Land ... Eliza's Story" ... Buy This Book

 

Disclaimer: I met Cathy Slusser once, several  years ago. We found each other's blogs early in our blogging careers and each became a regular reader of the other. When I first began reading Cathy's blog,"From A Heavenly Land", she was working on "Eliza's Story" and would post bits of it on her blog.

So there, all that is out front.

Rest assured that my review is based on the book and not on "Blogger Buddy Factor".

If I didn't like the book, this review would have politely ... never happened.

 

 

Cathy Slusser has written a fascinating novel of Florida frontier life based on historical research and Cathy's own local knowledge as a native Floridian. The Eliza in the story was a real woman and did live on Terra Ceia Island during the 19th century when Florida was a sparsely populated frontier. As the author states in her forward,

"From historical records, I know much about her (Eliza), but little about who she really was inside. The facts you will read are true."

 

Running through the tale is a strong thread of faith as Eliza deals with, ... well, more than anybody should have to deal with. The author handles this pretty well, so that I didn't feel like I was being preached at ... I don't have much patience for that, so it could have been a deal breaker.

 

But Cathy weaves her own strong faith into the tale in a way that makes it Eliza's and that works.

 

I know a little about Florida, both past and present, and the history is good, the story telling is strong, and the events draw the reader in.

 

The E-book is available on Amazon for $2.99. If you are old school, the paperback version is available too!

 

 

 

PS: My wife loved it even more than I did.

Bear and FC Review Julie Zickefoose's New Book, "The Bluebird Effect"

Once Bear knew that I had ordered Julie Zickefoose's new book, "The Bluebird Effect, Uncommon Bonds With Common Birds", he took it upon himself to take the sentinel position, patiently watching for the UPS truck.

He never wavered in his dedication, taking only short Purina One breaks and even shorter Getrdone type walks outside until, finally the big day came.

Loud barks announced the arrival of the UPS truck a full minute before it came into view down the long curvy driveway that leads into PFHQ.

At last ...

Bear carried the package inside, as Labradors are want to do, and I took the package carefully out of his gentle mouth.

He is a bird dog after all and this book is all about ... you got that already didn't you?

At this point, there was a brief moral dilemma.
You see, the book isn't really for me ... it's a gift.

So the question, dear reader, is ... "Is it poor form to pre-read a gift book?"

I mean, suppose I wash my hands, handle each page only by the tiniest bit of corner paper, and gently, oh so gently, flip each page like it was a thin sheet of gold leaf ... if I do all that and leave no evidence that I was there ... is that okay?

Or am I faux pasing ( or in Bear's case four pawing) in a most uncivilized manner?

While Bear and I pondered this gift book dilemma, the book suddenly fell open to one of my favorite birds, one I see everyday at Cedar Key ... the osprey.

Julie's paintbrush captured a scene repeated daily at the osprey nest, atop the school lamppost.
Switch out the freshwater sucker impaled in the osprey's talons with a fat mullet, and it was a dead ringer for our schoolyard ospreys.

We had to investigate further.

Bear and I both decided that since it was a gift book, we would compromise and just read the osprey chapter ... and maybe a few bits of other chapters, but we would NOT, I repeat NOT read the whole thing before it was given to the lucky recipient.

I thought I was pretty competent on the subject of ospreys, having grown up around them and working, often only a few hundred feet from our nesting schoolyard pair.

But no.

Proximity does not equal understanding.

Julie's prose and artwork taught this teacher so much about a bird I thought I knew, and she did it in an entertaining way that makes you want to know more.

I do know teaching and that skill is what makes a good teacher.

Julie is a natural teacher.

Oh, she can hide behind being a musician, author, and artist, but she is clearly 

... a teacher.

When our little covert  book preview was over, we both agreed this book earned a five out of five tail wag rating ... (Bear handled that ).

Of course, what we wanted to do was to sit down and savor the rest of Zick's excellent book, and we will, ... AFTER the giftee has had a chance to read it, enjoy it., and then as she always does, tell me, "You need to read this great book!".

And I will.
I'm just hoping Bear can keep our little secret.


So, if you read a nature blog like Pure Florida, it's probably safe to assume you enjoy nature and reading about it.

If so, you really want this book ... and to help you get it, I'm posting a link to Julie's site.

Just click here to fall under the spell of "The Bluebird Effect".